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Archival Research Basics with the National ArchivesLesson # 7

The National Archives and Records AdministrationPacific Alaska Region

Seattle, Washington & Anchorage, Alaska

9/1/2009

www.archives.gov

Many original documents are available online at the National Archives website, as well as many useful resources for educators and their students.

In this lesson we will explore the website and discover how the NARA holdings reproduced there might be efficiently accessed and used by teachers and students.

There are several different groups of document reproductions (scans) available at www.archives.gov .

ALL OF THEM ARE COLLECTIONS of National Archives records

(see Lesson 2).

That means they have been gathered for a specific purpose, such as an exhibit.

There are billions of documents held in NARA

facilities that have not been reproduced on the website.

In this lesson, we will examine the following:

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC)

Access to Archival Databases (AAD)

Commercial websites offering National Archives documents and associated indexes

Online exhibits that might contain reproduced documents on your topic

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC)

ARC is the place where all of NARA’s holdings will EVENTUALLY be described..

“Described” means there will be all or a portion of the “finding aid” available online. (See lesson 5 for an example of a finding aid.)

It does NOT mean that all of the documents themselves will be online, at least not for a very, very long time.

ARC Currently (2009) …ARC Currently (2009) …

About 36% are not yet described or scanned

Nearly 64% of NARA holdings are described at the SERIES

level in ARC 1,900,000+ cubic feet of original documents

140,000+ Documents have been scanned and are available for use on ARC

Series:

Group (large or small) of

related records

Example

Civil Case Files, 1936 – 1980" , from the Seattle Division, Western

Washington District, US

District Courts (RG 21)

www.archives.govwww.archives.gov main page main page

In order to access

ARC, scroll down

toward the bottom of

the opening page

This is the main entrance

to ARC.

You can see that if you have problems navigating the site, there are many articles posted here to help you.

You can also share this page with your friends or students.

Typing your topic or

the name of a federal

agency into this box

will result in

a

general search. It

will return a

combination of

descriptions and

scanned images of

actual documents.

Alternately, clicking here will take you to a page where you can choose a TAB and decide if you want to search:

• descriptions,

• scanned documents,

• people, or

• organizations.

TabsTabs

Archival DescriptionsArchival Descriptions

Digital CopiesDigital Copies

PeoplePeople

OrganizationsOrganizations

An “Archival Descriptions” search means you may search for and find:

1. The description of a “series,” like the one in the “finding aid” you saw in Lesson 5.

2. The description of an “item” (sometimes a digital image of the document as well).

This search is useful if you are looking for documents that are NOT yet scanned, but are held at a National Archives facility. It is also useful to locate “finding aids” and citations for particular series of records.

The “Digital Copies” tab will result ONLY in scanned documents. This is most useful for immediate needs. Generally the documents are in the public domain and have no copyright restrictions.

This search is useful if you are looking for PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS that you can copy and paste or save to your computer. Occasionally the resolution leaves something to be desired. To make copies, select the largest image possible, then save it to your computer for best results.

The “People” tab searches individuals. This is great for searching for famous people, but includes some regular folks as well. (Remember that this is a collection of documents.) The browse facility is organized alphabetically.

This search is useful if you are looking for records of an INDIVIDUAL

The “Organizations” tab returns names of organizations, agencies, companies and sometimes the names of the officers within the organization and a historical summary. However, occasionally there is nothing more than a note about the name being from an LCNAF file conversion (Library of Congress Name Authority File).

This search is particularly useful if you are looking for an organization that might have had dealings with the National Archives.

A “simple” search on any TAB will find any of these words (up to 100 hits)

However, you can choose to return up to 2000 hits.

If you click this box the words you searched for will be highlighted in the resulting windows. The highlighted words will print out bold.

Use EVERY POSSIBLE search term you can think of … The descriptions were not written originally for you and me. Early entries were written by archivists for archivists. A word from the name of the agency is always a “safe” search.

This was the result of a SIMPLE “archival descriptions” search for “civil war women.”

Notice that

• some are civil war records,

• some are civil defense records, and

• some contain one of any one of the three terms … like #2 from World War II.

You can also do an advanced search to be more specific.

The advanced search is more EXACT.

In this search we put “civil war” in the EXACT PHRASE field.

You will notice that this “advanced search” received only 41 hits and focused on descriptions that included the words “civil war” and “women”.

For this search … search-term [Japanese balloon] … there are some additional items to notice.

This little symbol means there is at least one scanned document (digital image) included. (This one is a clip of a moving picture.)

This little symbol means there is an online resource available, such as additional finding aids.

“Add to My List” gives you the ability to make a list that can be printed or e-mailed to yourself.

THIS LIST ONLY LASTS FOR

30 MINUTES.

SEND TO YOURSELF OFTEN!

This page is the result of a simple “archival descriptions” search on the term “glacier bridge”. You can see that there are several textual entries (with no digital copies) and one panoramic photograph (with the digital copy symbol next to it).

Let’s click on the photograph.

This is what the page usually looks like that you will receive.

(Sometimes there are no scope and content notes or digital copies, however)

The details tab gives you more information about the series or document.

The Scope and Content note (if there

is one) gives you background

information. LOOK FOR THESE!

This tab tells you if there are other copies of the document

(perhaps on microfilm).

The Digital Copies tab gives you a

thumbnail image that you can click on for a larger printable copy.

Hierarchy refers to the relationship of the document to the Record Group and Series … great for citations!

The National ArchivesThe National Archives

Access to Archival Databases (AAD)

Access to Archival Databases (AAD)

AAD is the place where the National AAD is the place where the National Archives posts and indexes records that Archives posts and indexes records that have ALWAYS been have ALWAYS been electronicelectronic or were or were converted to electronicconverted to electronic records at a later records at a later time.time.

It currently includes records of: Japanese Internment Camps War Casualties from Korea and Vietnam Enlistment records from World War II Immigration records from the 1800’s

It is located just below ARC on the main page

(www.archives.gov)

The indexes are easy to use!

Sample page of electronic

military records.

Commercial SitesCommercial Sitesutilizing NARA recordsutilizing NARA records

(And creating new indexes)(And creating new indexes)

Ancestry.comAncestry.com

Footnote.comFootnote.com

Heritage Quest onlineHeritage Quest online

Commercial SitesCommercial Sitesutilizing NARA recordsutilizing NARA records

Ancestry.comAncestry.com– Available at:Available at:

National Archives facilities at no costNational Archives facilities at no cost

Many public libraries at no costMany public libraries at no cost

On your own computer for a feeOn your own computer for a fee

– Geared to the family historian (genealogist) Geared to the family historian (genealogist) but extremely useful for historical topics as but extremely useful for historical topics as

well.well.

Commercial SitesCommercial Sitesutilizing NARA recordsutilizing NARA records

Heritage Quest OnlineHeritage Quest Online– Available at all National Archives facilities at Available at all National Archives facilities at

no costno cost– Available through many public and private Available through many public and private

libraries at no costlibraries at no cost– Often available from home through your local Often available from home through your local

public library (using your library card)public library (using your library card)

Commercial SitesCommercial Sitesutilizing NARA recordsutilizing NARA records

Footnote.comFootnote.com– Available at all National Archives facilities at Available at all National Archives facilities at

no cost no cost – This company plans to digitize ALL National This company plans to digitize ALL National

Archives microfilm Archives microfilm – Is scanning documents from other archives Is scanning documents from other archives

and libraries as well (Including the LDS library and libraries as well (Including the LDS library in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Pennsylvania in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Pennsylvania State Archives )State Archives )

– Available from home for a feeAvailable from home for a fee

Exhibits onlineExhibits online

Exhibits are a good way to locate documents that are

related by topic for use in the classroom.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/

http://www.ourdocuments.gov

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/

http://w

ww.youtube.com/USNationalArchives

http://w

ww.flick

r.com/photos/u

snatio

nalarchive

s/sets/

http://www.archives.gov/75th/

http://w

ww.archives.gov/exhibits/

Prologue and Other Online ArticlesPrologue and Other Online Articles

Prologue magazine brings readers stories Prologue magazine brings readers stories based on the rich holdings and programs based on the rich holdings and programs of the National Archives across the nationof the National Archives across the nation—from Washington, DC, to the regional —from Washington, DC, to the regional archives and the Presidential libraries.archives and the Presidential libraries.

Prologue has been published quarterly by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for 40 years.

Prologue is filled with articles that tie documents together by topic and can be searched using the www.archives.gov main search engine.

Just type your topic into the main search engine.

Prologue articles and other references will be listed.

You will notice that the fourth item on the list is a Prologue article. The other articles are from lesson plans, reference papers, and other sources.

Notice how many hits contained those search terms!

These articles are secondary sources on topics that might be of interest to anyone. And they usually link you to a primary source!

This article is about women who tried to enlist in the Army during the Civil War.

ReviewReview

ARCARC (Archives Research Catalog) (Archives Research Catalog) contains contains descriptionsdescriptions of nearly 64% of of nearly 64% of our holdings and over 140,000 our holdings and over 140,000 digital digital imagesimages of primary source documents. of primary source documents.

Practice using the website!Practice using the website!

Use “advanced search” to focus more Use “advanced search” to focus more closelyclosely

Use every search term you can think ofUse every search term you can think of

E-mail or print your saved list frequentlyE-mail or print your saved list frequently

ReviewReviewAADAAD (Access to Archival Databases) (Access to Archival Databases) contains contains electronic recordselectronic records. These . These records were either created records were either created electronically or added later. Use it to electronically or added later. Use it to discover lists and details about people discover lists and details about people from:from:

Japanese Internment Camp recordsJapanese Internment Camp records

Military records - casualty and enlistmentMilitary records - casualty and enlistment

Immigration records during early periodsImmigration records during early periods

ReviewReviewCommercial WebsitesCommercial Websites scan and index scan and index our records and make searching for our records and make searching for individuals much more efficient and individuals much more efficient and FAST. The major companies are:FAST. The major companies are:

Ancestry.com - the most comprehensive to date. (Free at NARA and local libraries. Subscription from home.)

Footnote.com - currently scanning all NARA microfilm … keep checking for updates. (Free at NARA and local libraries. Subscription from home.)

Heritage Quest online - (Available at local libraries, and NARA only.)

ReviewReviewOnline ExhibitsOnline Exhibits can help you find can help you find documents grouped together in topics. documents grouped together in topics. Exhibits can be found at:Exhibits can be found at:

The NARA Charters of Freedom Page (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and more.)

NARA’s Main Exhibit Page (A large group of exhibits on

various topics of National importance.) Our Documents (America’s 100 Foundation Documents, including transcriptions and background information.)

America’s Historical Documents (A collection of important documents that link to more information.)

NARA pages at YouTube and Flickr NARA’s 75th Anniversary Exhibit (A collection of photos showing the development of the National Archives.)

ReviewReview

NARA’s website holds thousands of NARA’s website holds thousands of articles (articles (secondary sourcessecondary sources), written ), written by scholars and archivistsby scholars and archivists. .

Search by topic using the main search box Search by topic using the main search box at the top right corner of www.archives.gov at the top right corner of www.archives.gov

Use common search termsUse common search terms

Narrow your topic by using additional Narrow your topic by using additional search termssearch terms

Self-directed Study

Search ARC using all methods and using several subjects (particularly ones that interest you). Use lots of search terms … remember ARC was created by archivists for archivists.

Review AAD for the records of the Japanese Internment camps or another topic.

Find secondary sources among our articles for one of your subjects of interest.

Look at all of the exhibit collections.

Be aware! Searching for ARC records will be practiced with supervision during your archival visit.

You must be able to show the archivist or educator at the archives that you understand how to use the online catalog while you are there. Please practice before you come and arrive with questions.

Questions NOW?

The National Archives at Anchorage654 West Third AvenueAnchorage, AK 99501-2145907-261-7800alaska.archives@nara.gov

The National Archives at SeattleThe National Archives at Seattle6125 Sand Point Way, NE6125 Sand Point Way, NESeattle, WA 98115-7999Seattle, WA 98115-7999206-336-5115206-336-5115seattle.archives@nara.govseattle.archives@nara.gov